peytonroad: it's very funny you should mention contractors seeing the house before they bid as we don't let them! as a matter of fact, we don't even tell them what town we're in. we've had the same discussion with neighbors for years about how never to disclose too much info. the price goes up before they even know what the job is. as it turns out, our GC is a good friend who lives around the corner so we've had it easy up until this point. i sent out several emails to carpenters the other night and got one response telling me he wanted to come and measure "to get a better idea of the space". i let him know my measurements were accurate and the only person needing a feel for the space is me. it's not only that i don't want people jacking their prices up based on where we live, but i also don't want too many people coming and going ...school hasn't started yet so my children are home. call me overly cautious but i just don't feel comfortable with it. meanwhile, i rec'd a very encouraging quote from an online vendor with wood doors which come in a painted finish, which i like. they are sending me a few different door samples and they worked up the cost based on my drawings. the total cost of the laundry room will come in at around $1950, including shipping. my GC will install. while speaking with him about the situation he said he could work out the mudroom and pantry and anything else we needed. he just doesn't want to have to make too many drawers ...which i understand. i can easily use baskets in place of the drawers i have spec'd for the mudroom lockers, so that's probably what we'll end up doing. if anyone is interested, this is where i got the very reasonable proposal on the laundry: http://newarkcabinets.org/default.asp?page=antiquewhite while this business of building a house can be stressful, i am challenged daily and i rather enjoy it! whatever it is, bring it on ...just not too much!

There's no such thing as "tile and grout" per se. There are worlds of different tile *and* grout now so that you have to make sure you're comparing apples to apples. Grey grout is a wonderful thing. In the 90s, I spent way too much time on my hands and knees cleaning white grout between the cheap white ceramic tiles in the bathrooms of our last house. HATED it. We also had less than 10-year-old vinyl in the kitchen (I didn't choose it--the PO did) that had yellowed. Fast forward to our new house: we have put gold/beige throughbody (same color all the way through -- great in case of chipping, which hasn't happened) porcelain tile with either Laticrete natural grey or TEC standard grey grout in the baths and laundry/mud room (it gets muddy in Oregon, esp. with an outdoorsy family) and it's practically bulletproof. If you want even more bulletproof, get your installer to use epoxy grout (not in changes of plane, though! caulk only there!) and dirt won't have the slightest chance of sticking. The only thing that would move me in the direction of a 'resilient floor' would be the softness underfoot. If that is important, and it's a nice feature as we age and our knees hurt more, I'd go with that. Vinyl has also improved its technology such that the higher end ones are much more durable in terms of color and puncture. You could underfloor-heat wood or tile, but not vinyl, as I understand the current technology. So I'm throwing some other factors in there, and trying to make sure you are judging on specifics.

uxorial, I have a "teeth-showing" dog too - it's normal for his breed, the Keeshond, to display a submissive grin. The breed is nicknamed the "Smiling Dutchman" because of this habit. Believe it or not some people think the dog is snarling at them because s/he is showing teeth! Sometimes when he is very happy playing with DH he'll roll over and peel his lips back so far he's showing both sets of gums, and if he's VERY excited he bares almost every tooth and "clacks" then together. :-) He's also another one who would happily sleep in a snowbank if we let him. If it's snowing we have to rattle the treat box to get him into the house! In our last house we had one of those beige fake-sheepskin bolster-beds in the corner of the living room for Goku-pup, and a crate in the bedroom (he took well to crate training). He responds to placement cues too, so "go crate" or "go bed" gets the appropriate response. The fleece thing looks so terrible in this house that I haven't put it out, although the crate fits nicely in the mudroom. The "giant pillow" kind of beds just don't do it for me at all. I've been thinking about one of the types that looks like a miniature couch but not sure if I can justify the price; Target has some kids' couches that might actually fit the bill, for much cheaper. Random-kitty preferred cardboard boxes for sleeping in, although shortly before she left us for the Bridge I finally convinced her to sleep in a cat bed. She was also welcome to sleep on whatever furniture she wanted to - she was family, after all.

The house is amazing! Congratulations! I agree with freeoscar. In your case, time equals money. Personally I would check the contractors' permit history. Those are the true credentials, no makeup there! You should also ask them to structure your bids task by task, in english not constenglish... (LOL.) Also, they should be specific on the allowances for things they need to shop for. You can research them yourself online to make sure they're not overpriced or underpriced! They might be underbidding your project just to get it! It really helps when they specify task by task and how dependent they are of each other. (what must be completed in order to move to the next step.) You can create a timeline and ensure your project is on track and prevent delays. There's a new renovation software that allows you to estimate your own project, find contractors near you, (you can check their records and permit history), and you can bid out your project. Then you get the bids, and they enforce the same language, so you're not guessing what they're proposing. You compare apples to apples. I'd recommend you did your research there! www.mykukun.com Best of luck for you and your family!